How To Sing On Pitch – How To Hold A Note

Do you know what the meaning of “tone deaf” is? Some singers unable to sing in pitch despite they had trying a lot of ways to solve this problem. Normally, they failed to identify the different of the musical frequency or pitch from the others. Singers find it difficult to sing in harmony with others or to accompany notes of some instrument.

Do you know the causes that make you a “tone deaf”? Actually, it might be possible as a child you were not involved in enough musical activities. You might not have got the training in your childhood. But it’s not a problem. It is never too late to learn singing on pitch.

In case of singing on pitch, tone deafness and actual deafness should be differentiated. Tone deaf people can hear the music and the other audible sounds like street traffic, noise etc but they are not able to differentiate one pitch from another. There is “ear training”, a special form of training that can help you in singing on a pitch. Ear training can help you in the personal development of areas that are a bit lacking.

There is additional thing to acknowledge that a lot of people can hear music in their head, when no music is being played at their places. It’s comfortable for such people to overcome singing on pitch. A lot of composers have this ability and they can compose symphonies in their brain, without bringing their ear to it. Fundamentally, astounding auditory memories are advancing popularity among people. It’s like we can recall certain smell and taste like a chef.

If you want to put yourself at ease of singing on pitch, you have to learn the difference between singing and hearing. Both these terms are very much dependent on each other. Dr. Alfred Tomatis, a French audiologist, had established an important relationship between the two terms.

He told that if a person cannot produce a particular sound, he cannot hear it. He gave this reason for the change in the voice of older people. As they lose their hearing ability, their voice changes. So hearing on pitch plays an important role in singing on pitch. You fail to copy the pitch, unless you learn to distinguish it.

What does it mean? Yes! It means you need to first learn to hear pitch before you learn singing on pitch. It is the starting point. If you can hear, you can move to the next step to differentiate between the sounds of different pitches.

How long is your note? Well you’ll be amazed to learn that the shorter your note the more likely you are to take insufficient breath; and the more likely you are to get really lazy; and if you bundle all of the above to describe your performance? Well, mediocre is as good as it gets! When you’re walking down the road to a corner shop just a few yards away, you’ll take your time about it. But if you had to walk a mile, you’re likely to put in a bit more effort. The same goes with singing, well, that’s if you’re a lazy singer and can’t be bothered to hold a note properly. In this short article, I’m going to show you how THINKING long-distance (even if you’re only singing a couple of words) is the best way ever to correct your projection.

To begin with, sing a four-word-note… let’s say you sang the words “we are the world” from the Michael Jackson-penned classic. Listen very carefully to how you sound. Did you run out of breath at the word “world”? Well, if you did, then that illustrates my point. You only had 4 words to sing and so you simply couldn’t be bothered to take enough breath and what suffered was your vocal quality in that rendition. Simple! It couldn’t have sounded great and I wouldn’t imagine anyone would want to listen to that. SO: how do you fix this? Take in lots of breath and make sure that by the word “world” you haven’t run out of breath so that even if you were to extend the word “world” for a while longer, you could.

This happens a lot with students attending private lessons in my studio. It’s so typical. So if you’re in that boat, trust me, you are not alone. The solution is as stipulated above. If you tricked your brain into thinking this-is-not-the-end-of-the-note, you’ll likely use a lot more control to hold that note. Your brain is very powerful. It can prevent you from adapting to new ways of doing things. Singing is the one place where the brain is to blame for your lack of success. This is another topic altogether, but the facts are clear as day, that if you allow your brain to pull you back, it will. What you need to learn to do is to trick your brain into conforming.

In summary: How would you describe your voice? Would anybody actually enjoy listening to you sing? A pertinent question, I’d say. You really need to take a closer look at yourself, first. If you don’t like what you sound like, don’t expect anyone else to.

12 Responses to "How To Sing On Pitch – How To Hold A Note"

Ideally, the singer’s voice shouldn’t sound like an entirely different voice when a different register has been entered. Achieving smoothness and a consistency of tone throughout the scale demands a knowledgeable teacher who can instruct the student in how to effectively adjust the mechanism of registration. The good singer knows how to coordinate the registers in such a way that there is a smooth, imperceptible transition from one register to another.

To blend these registers, a singer needs to slightly close the two last notes of the lower register when ascending in pitch and slightly open them when descending in pitch. If too much power or volume is put into singing the highest notes of the lower register, it will become more difficult to develop the power, volume and warmth or fullness of tone in the lower notes in the next (higher) register.

Singing teachers don’t often refer to the vocal fry register because it is not regularly produced by singers – it is not easily accessible to them – and because it is not considered a legitimate performance mode of phonation.

He’ll also understand that this problem can be resolved quite readily by making some minor adjustments to the vocal tract to either stabilize (or lower) F1 or raise it, depending on his aesthetic and stylistic goals, and to facilitate an easier transition into the notes immediately above it and also ensure consistent ‘power.’

He/she must find the correct vowel for the pitch, which will help him/her find the correct muscular and breath balance. Although this work may be tedious, merely singing entire scales repeatedly will likely not help the singer experience these chromatic shifts.

The following exercises are designed to encourage a slowing down of the rise of the diaphragm in order to keep subglottal pressures at sustainable, healthy levels, even for loud singing and within the higher range.

Then, it might help for him/her to think about the concept of ‘inhaling the voice’ as he/she vocalizes to avoid pushing on the higher notes and activating the push reflex. As in Exercises 2 and 3, the vowel should be allowed to modify passively as the stable larynx stabilizes the position of the formants. If it modifies too soon, it may be a sign that the larynx is rising.

The student is not placed in a certain ‘grade’ and then asked to perform exercises appropriate only to that level. The learning process is fluid, not linear, and students may show various levels of skills in different aspects of vocal technique. Each student has an individualized (informal) ‘lesson plan’ that is flexible and determined by that individual’s strengths and weaknesses and rate of progress, not by a pre-written systematic approach that may not apply to or fit him or her perfectly.

During lessons, I will play the vocal exercises on the keyboard (or the piano in some ‘in studio’ situations). On a few occasions, I have accompanied students with the acoustic guitar for vocal coaching purposes. I will generally play the starting pitch or chord for reference, which will then be followed with the entire exercise, playing either each note of the sung exercise or a chord progression.

During a Skype lesson, I will play and demonstrate an exercise. However, as the student prepares to sing back the exercise, I am only able to play the starting pitch or chord for reference. In the end, having the student sing a cappella actually benefits me because I am able to listen to the voice in isolation.

You’d be amazed,but you seem to be one of the few places that have defined “to hold a note” meaning “to hit the pitches with precision” This expression has been around for ages, but in those circles where it was important it was taken for granted. Now there’s this internet thing and EVERYONE is a singer y’know? There’s a lot of confusion because people are miss-understand the term to mean “To sustain the sound for a long time..duration.” It’s an understandable mistake.I have had conversations critisizing a performance and have had it “refuted” with recordings of a vocalist singing a flat pitch for 20-30 seconds or more “proving” that they could “hold a note”! THANK-YOU for clearing this up! Cheers.